Success Story Magazine - A New Addition to the Cameroonian Media Scene

After years of being inundated with political magazines and newspapers, the Cameroonian media scene has recently witnessed the emergence of "image magazines" that focus primarily on people and places.

The most recent addition to this increasingly popular journalistic genre is Success Story magazine; a monthly publication which has the distinction of being Cameroon's first exclusively online magazine. According to its publishers, Success Story is about “celebrating [the] success [of] talented Cameroonians at home and abroad".

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The editorial of the September 2007 maiden issue explained the rationale for the magazine thus:

For more than two centuries Cameroonians have been a hardworking people. Their achievements have crossed the boundaries set by their colonial masters and often got lost in the wilderness of history written only to the memory of western heroes. Efforts by many to bring examples of successful Cameroonians to the mountain top have not been very sustainable. Like cities built on the hill but still hidden, successful Cameroonians at home and abroad need a platform on which they could bear testimonies and showcase the secrets of their successes while serving as role models for the younger generations.

Here we come, proposing this publication to serve as a reference point and idea shop to Cameroonians at home and abroad who aspire towards great positive achievements and wish to stay informed about the accomplishments of their fellow countrymen.

Produced by the Limbe-based Global Network for Good Governance (GNGG), Success Story already has five issues under its belt.

Click here to download issues of Success Story (in pdf format).

Comments

[Elimbi John]

success story will not come up.

[blackstone]

successful Cameroonians at home and abroad need a platform on which they could bear testimonies and showcase the secrets of their successes while serving as role models for the younger generations.

sounds like a great mission statement. i wish them the best of luck!

[paulo laurent]

ALWAYS DEFINE THE IDENTITY

SOUTHERN CAMEROONIAN OR CAMEROUNIAN?

[Sofi Monono(Yaoundé)]

There's something inherently wrong with these "Southern Cams" fanatics and extremists.Who told u Paulo Laurent that these succesful Cameroonians want to identify themselves with your illusionary "Southern Cams"?These are a group of zealots who have no idea of how to achieve their very objectives and spend time ranting everywhere.Devoid of a common ideology they go about building an Oscarian state through escapism and naivity.Cameroonians were killed in February in your so called "Southern Cams" what did u guys do? Your people were killed by your so called enemies 'La République" and all u know is to sheepishly create a state on the internet.During the uprising in Feb,the so called Secessionists went into their holes while the people were fighting.They claimed it was 'La Republiques'internal affaire while their own people were being butchered.You guys will pay one day for misleading people.
Paulo Laurent, u guys are a bunch of invalids(mostly living in airtight rooms abroad and wind away time infront of desktops) who go around fooling ur people to expose themselves to danger and discouraging them on their right to protect themselves.Start by allowing intellectual debates within ur movements and spare us the stale and pre_1960 politics u guys practise.

[paulo laurent]

how successful are you when you are asham of your history?
and if history is facts, then facts will always stare at your face.
that beeing said i am a successful SOUTHERNCAMEROONIAN, AND I AM VERY PROUD OF THE NAME

[paulo laurent]

sofi, if you want to rech mr call mr at 301-905-8720

there is an illness, a mental illness that
humans generates, when they live in an
oppressive, corrupt and dis informational ,myiopic, fraudulent republique like cameroun,
may be you will know wee what successful really mean

[Mwalimu George Ngwane]

Thank God we still have a magazine like this one that identifies cover page Resource people based on their brains than their cash.

[Sofi Monono(Yaoundé)]

Paulo Laurent,
Every human being desires to know his history,his origins.African Americans are today tracing back their origins to Africa but they still live in America inspite of the fact that they have to deal with racism and alienation on a daily basis.They cannot quit bc quitters are loosers.They still hold firm as Barack Obama says that 'the American sky has streaks of rainbow in which every person of every race can find solace'.

It is not bc we can recite our history and gnash our teeth at the failures of our leaders of yesterday that a 'Southern Cams 'state will be born.The irony in it all is that u guys are repeating the same errors of those whom u accuse of bonding us with 'La République' bc u guys are unable to convince the mass of 'Southern Cameroonians' to persue the cause.Bc of lack of a convincing ideology.

U guys often cite the example of some peoples that have gained independence;Eritrea and of recent Kosovo.Yes,they did but take a close look at the path thru which these countries attained statehood and u realise that,your 'Southern Cams'is just a pipe dream.But u fail also to realise that the western nations(whom u guys sollicite often)have different measures for different peoples.When its one of theirs they rush and push forward the people's right to self determination but its 'the others' they turn their heads and look away.Remember NATO'S expedient airstrikes against Serbian troops in Kosovo. In Africa the successes of secesssionists movements has been almost nil.Bc of varied reasons and Africa is marching towards a united continent to better stand the onslaught of globalisation.Europe and the Euro are today waxing strong bc of converging economies and political systems making her stronger and dynamic.

There are minorities everywhere with their own problems.In Cameroon,the anglophones are marginalised and its bc of this marginalisation that gave birth to secessionist ideals.I still believe that the Cameroonian sky can contain all the people's of this beloved country with their diversities.And I believe that at the end the anglophone will have an upper hand.Today,most francophone families have atleast a child in bilingual schools.Bc they have understood the importance of anglosaxon education which is cherished worldwide.Paul Biya tried to destroy the GCE but failed and today the university system of Cameroon follows the 'Licence-Maitrise-Doctorat'(Bachelors,Masters,Doctorate) system fashioned in the anglosaxon system.

The new Criminal Procedure Code(CPC) is inherently anglosaxon.The right to bail and other inherent human rights etc are tenets of our anglosaxon heritage.And many other laws(though hardly applied) are fashioned in the anglosaxon system.At times when I hear my fellow people angered bc Paul Biya doesn't make speeches in English,I tell them not to waste their energy bc finally the francophones will beg to learn not only the English language but will inculcate our anglosaxon cultures.Bc the world itself is anglosaxon.Take a look at communications,policies,economies etc.They are simply resisting bc at the end they will be engulfed.

Even in France(in Molière's country),the most prestigious Writer's guild,the 'L'Academie Française' now publishes its works in English.There are tv channels now broadcasting their programmes in English.

In Cameroon,the power of the anglophone can be seen and not aonly seen but felt in the fact that the leading political party(SDF) is based in the minority anglophone provinces in a country where the francophones are majority.What does this mean?This means that the anglophone's have the power to redirect politics in Cameroon and they shall do it.It's a matter of time.

[Macadamia Cake]

Sofi, the Europeans could not unite until they recognized the futility of the previous method that they used, namely coercion as practiced by Charles 1, Charlemagne, The Popes, Napoleon and finally Hitler. Then, they recognized that there was the possibility of unity by free association. They are "united" but you will not find German cops policing the French or British administering the Dutch locally.

You express contempt for the 1960s and use that as an argument against reversing the annexation. That is not a long time in the lifespan of nation. By that argument, African Americans should have accepted slavery as a permanent condition because it was a "done deal" with a 300 year history at the time the abolitionist movement went into full swing. Duration of persecution or occupation is not an argument.

Sovereignty does not mean isolationism. On the contrary, it creates the possibility of an equitable relationship with one's neighbors. Why do you not live in the same house as your grown and married siblings? (Assuming of course that you are grown and married with children). Does the fact that each of you have your own households mean that you fail to cooperate as a family?

[Macadamia Cake]

But, I recognize the cultural need by Southern Cameroonians for a magazine such as this one. Most Southern Cameroonians under occupation cannot afford to openly identify with the struggle. Paolo Laurent, it is OK. In the fullness of time, all Southern Cameroonians will make the correct choice.

[Sofi Monono(Yaoundé)]

You see it is such lame arguments u guys always foreward that makes the 'Southern Cams project' to end at the level of an illusion.Macadamia Cake,u talk about a united Europe and that "you will not find German cops policing the French or British administering the dutch locally".

The idea behind a united Europe is to eventually harmonise and converge political,economic and social systems of European people's into an identiable system,ofcourse leaving room for identities.Some sort of a "Super Federalism".

Macademia Cake,African Americans lived thru slavery and the slave trade(which u evoked),segregation,Jim Crow Laws etc,they never accepted these injustices.They would've packed their backs,traced their roots and come back to live under our beautiful sun.No,even as they are the minority race,they stood their grounds and decided that America was going to be their home.Thru Malcolm X,the Black Panthers,Martin Luther King Jr,the blackman has been able to live his dream in America and today one of theirs is on his way to the White House(a house previously meant only for whites).The American civil war which pitted the Separatists against the Confederalists led to the victory of the confederalists and today America is the most powerful nation and the most dynamic economy ever in human history.

We should come together like one African people to face the challenges of globalisation.You see our problem,while the Americans,the Europeans are thinking like one people we revel in disunity and thus weakening Africa.And that's exactly what Western nations want.

Today,on our shoulders lies the burden to wage war against neo_colonialism.I believe in a strong and Federal Cameroon with an eye towards a great African unity.Let's thread the path of Federalism again while taking care not to commit the same errors of yesterday's leaders.And even if we were to have a "Southern Cams" state,Federalism will be the level ground to consolidate our unity(NW/SW divide),take control of our administration,education,natural resources etc.Let's focus on fighting for n bilding a political system that will usher in true democracy in Cameroon.

[Po Mbia]

I am inclined to agree with Sofi Monono on this one. While I share the anglophone ideals I`ve often questioned myself if it is right for me resident abroad, to insight others to adhere to my point of view, while I do not bear the consquences. At the end of the day, isn`t it a question of realising our INDIVIDUAL ambitions? Haven`t we all got more or less the same aspirations (better health care, sanitation, education, security...)?

[Po Mbia]

I am inclined to agree with Sofi Monono on this one. While I share the anglophone ideals I`ve often questioned myself if it is right for me resident abroad, to insight others to adhere to my point of view, while I do not bear the consquences. At the end of the day, isn`t it a question of realising our INDIVIDUAL ambitions? Haven`t we all got more or less the same aspirations (better health care, sanitation, education, security...)?

[paulo laurent]

PO MBIA, WHAT A FUNNY NAME,
YOU CAN DUSMISS, BRITISH SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS AS A WISHFUL THINKING, BUT FEEL MORE CONVENIENT CALL A COUNTRY ANGLOPHONES. IF ONLY YOU KNEW WHATS MEANT BY ANGLOPHONES. IF NOT DERROGATIVE WHEN APPPLIED TO OUR CAUSE, WITH ALL FACTS OF HISTORY ON OUR SIDE. WHO WILL IDENTIFY WITH US AS(SOUTHERNCAMEROONIANS) IF WE ARE ASHAME TO IDENTIFY WITH IT. AND ACCEPT WHAT THE OPPRESS WANTS US TO THINK OF OURSELVES AS A NATION OF PEOPLE LOST .WITHOUT HISTORY NOR IDENTITY.
YOURS IS JUST NOT ONLY HYPOCRITICAL BUT
CONVENIENT AS TO NON GENUINE TO YOURSELF IN ALL HONESTY.

SOFI ISNT THE ONLY SOUTHERN CAMEROONIAN
WHO FEELS PROUD TO IDENTIFY WITH CAMEROUN OPENLY. EVEN DOCTORS, SCIENTIST AND PROFESSORS, SOME DO AS WELL EVEN THE OWNER OF THIS SITE DOES IT. PART IS DUE TO THE FACT NOT TO OFFEND THE MASTER
WHO MIGHT BE LISTENING, OR OUT OF COWARDIZED, BUT WHO SHOULD BE GUILTY, THE COLONIZER OR THE COLONEZED?

MINE IS TO FOSTER THE ERADICATION OF THIS SELF INDULGED SHAMEFULNESS OF IDENTITY, AS THE FRENCH CATHOLIC PUBLICATION (L EFFORT CAMEROUNAIS) PUTS IT AND I QUOTE

SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS MUST BE THE ONES TO
PRONOUNCE THEIR IDENTITY, AND NOT THE REVERSE, THUS LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN AND THE WORLD WILL CALL THEM AS THEY WANT TO BE CALLED. (SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS HAVE REFUSED TO KNOW THEMSELVES, SOO THEY EMBRACED THE RAPIST, WITH ALL WHOLE- HEARTEDNESS , LEGS WIDE OPENED IN THE AIR IN BROAD DAY -LIGHT , TELL US WHY WILL THE RAPIST NOT TAKE JOY IN RAPING THEM ALL THE TIME, TILL THE END OF TIME.

[paulo laurent]

sofi is those enam output thats see never futher than the dregs the NIGGERS OF FRENCH CAMEROUN FEEDS THEM
AND KNOWS NOTHING BUT BUT THE AMERICAN SOAP TV, WHICH HAD BEEN TRANSALTED INTO FRENCH AND MAY BE RETRANSLATED BACK TO PIGIN ENGLISH FOR SOFI ON.
HOW ON EARTH WILL ANY HUMAN BEEING EVER IMAGINE THAT A NEGRO COULD CAME WITH ANY LEGAL INSTRUMENT GOOD ENOUGH FOR 21 CENTURY
IF NOT A SIMPLE THRASH, ( HARMONISE LAWS)
OF CAMEROUN-FRANCAISE+CAMEROUN-ANGLAISE =
FOOL ME LAW, AND COLONIZED WELL ,WELL WELL
INFLIST MY DAUGTERS WITH HIV AT MOLYKO DORMITORY. MR FRANCO-POLICE, WE D BEE ANGLOKOONS.
SOOFII. MY LASS

[Sofi Monono(Yaoundé)]

Paulo Laurent,the failed assylum seeker who is possessed with frustration and comes to this forum to release his frustration.You are the very people who go to whiteman's country and fabricate stories of how u were persecuted in Cameroon.When u successfully are given a status,u turn around and dine with the CPDM.U think Cameroonians don't know the scam behind? Paulo Laurent,sincerely speaking,how many people do u know after gaining a status abroad continue in ur so called "Southern Cams strugge"?

U guys are opportunists,liars.U just wanna get a status.From ur rantings on this forum and ur jealousy for the great job Mola Dibussi is doing one can only decipher the type of person u are.U secessionists are jealoused bc Mola Dibussi's site is more popular and refered to internationally than all those mediocre sites u guys run.

Paulo L.is it not bc the SDF(proponent of Federalism) has swept the limelight under the feet of failed assylum seekers like during the Feb.uprising?

A STRONG AND FEDERAL CAMEROON FOR A UNITED AFRICA

[paulo laurent]

sofi, there isnt any such a thing as STATUS
ABROAD.never mind pigmy of the mind,
cant you imagine any where better than where are now, that people dont need status, but equality and opportunity to live by?
since FRENCH CAMEROUN IS ONLY BASED ON STATUS AND CORRUPTION, YOU MUST IMAGINE AMERICA, BRITAIN ARE ALL BASED ON STATUS.
POOR SOFI

[Jane Gerdin]

Dibussi keep up. We are glad we get some info which does not appear on the other online papers here. We are glad but you need to do more. Please post anything you get on our fatherland. Cameroonians need to read and know all the ups and downs. Most Cameroonians are not aware of things that happen especially in the dispora.